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Adaptive Feedforward Linearization
for RF Power Amplifiers
Shawn P. Stapleton
Simon Fraser University
Shawn P. Stapleton
You will receive an introduction and basic overview of the key features,
technologies, and performance requirements of FeedForward Linearization in
this paper. Solutions for solving some of the design challenges will also be
presented. An adaptive FeedForward linearizer is demonstrated using the ADS.
More in depth analysis can be obtained in the references at the end of this
technical information session.
Simulated Power Spectra: Class AB Power Amplifier with Pi/4 DQPSK input signal
Regulatory bodies specify power spectral density masks which define the
maximum allowable adjacent channel interference (ACI) levels. TETRA [3], for
example, uses a π/4 DQPSK modulation format with a symbol rate of 18 KHz;
channel spacing is 25 KHz. The Class AB power amplifier is operating at a back-
off power of 3dB.
Splitter Fixed
Attenuation
Delay
Combiner Variable Phase Auxiliary
Attenuator Shift Amplifier
In 1927, H.S. Black of Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the concept of negative feedback as
a method of linearizing amplifiers [1]. His idea for feedforward was simple: reduce the amplifier
output to the same level as the input and subtract one from the other to leave only the distortion
generated by the amplifier. Amplify the distortion with a separate amplifier and then subtract it
from the original amplifier output to leave only a linearly amplifier version of the input signal.
The feedforward configuration consists of two circuits, the signal cancellation circuit and the
error cancellation circuit. The purpose of the signal cancellation circuit is to suppress the
reference signal from the main power amplifier output signal leaving only amplifier distortion,
both linear and nonlinear, in the error signal. Linear distortion is due to deviations of the
amplifier’s frequency response from the flat gain and linear phase [2]. Note distortion from
memory effects can be compensated by the feedforward technique, since these effects will be
included in the error signal. The values of the sampling coupler and fixed attenuation are chosen
to match the gain of the main amplifier. The variable attenuation serves the fining tuning function
of precisely matching the level of the PA output to the reference. The variable phase shifter is
adjusted to place the PA output in anti-phase with the reference. The delay line in the reference
branch, necessary for wide bandwidth operation, compensates for the group delay of the main
amplifier by time aligning the PA output and reference signals before combining. The purpose of
the error cancellation circuit is to suppress the distortion component of the PA output signal
leaving only the linearly amplifier component in the linearizer output signal. In order to suppress
the error signal, the gain of the error amplifier is chosen to match the sum of the values of the
sampling coupler, fixed attenuator, and output coupler so that the error signal is increased to
approximately the same level as the distortion component of the PA output signal.
Splitter Fixed
Attenuation
Delay
Combiner Variable Phase Auxiliary
Attenuator Shift Amplifier
The spectral components generated from a two tone input signal are depicted at
various nodes in the feedforward linearizer. When the spectrum is flipped this
implies that the signal is in anti-phase. The main power amplifier generates
spurious intermodulation products at its output. Notice the function of the signal
cancellation circuit is to eliminate products at its output. Notice the function of
the signal cancellation circuit is to eliminate products at its output. Notice the
function of the signal cancellation circuit is to eliminate the linear component.
The result is an error signal which contains only the distortion component. The
function of the error cancellation circuit is to amplify and phase shift the error
signal so that the distortion when combined with the main power amplifier’s
output will be eliminated.
FeedForward Linearization
Polar Implementation I Q
Fixed
Output
Coupler
RF input Attenuation
Auxiliary
Amplifier
Splitter beta
Complex
Attenuator Phase Shifter Delay
Gain
Adjuster
Line R Combiner
I Q
O
Adaptation Adaptation
Controller Controller
E E
o
90
I Q
Adaptation Controller
Typical implementations of the complex gain adjuster is shown for the polar
coordinates and rectangular coordinates. The mixers in the rectangular
implementation can be replaced by bi-phase voltage controlled attenuators
(VCA). The fact that the two branches of the vector modulator (VM) are in phase
quadrature and that the VCA’s are capable of bi-phase operation, ensures that the
VM can achieve phase shifts anywhere in the range [0, 360]. The attenuation is
set to a nominal value where the gradient with respect to voltage is largest,
conditions for fast adaptation. Care must be taken to ensure that no additional
nonlinearities are introduced.
I Q Output
Fixed Coupler
RF input Attenuation
I Q Auxiliary
Amplifier
Splitter beta
Complex
Digital Signal P
A/D
Processing
Power Detector
Local Oscillator
• Signal Cancellation Circuit : BPF includes linear and IMD products {P is E input}
• Error Cancellation Circuit : BPF includes only IMD products {P is O input}
Main Power
Amplifier
RF Output
alpha Sampling Delay
Coupler Line Combiner
Complex
Gain
Adjuster
I Q R I Q Output
Fixed Coupler
RF input Attenuation
Auxiliary
Amplifier
o Splitter beta
90 Complex
Gain
Delay Adjuster
Line Combiner
R Q
I
O
Adaptation Adaptation
Controller Controller
E E
E
K adaptation constant Signal Cancellation Circuit Error Cancellation Circuit
α = Kα ve(t)
ve(t)••vr(t)*
vr(t)* dt
β = Kβ vo(t)
vo(t)•
•ve(t)*
ve(t)* dt
IMDoutput = | εβ | 2 • IMDamplifier
(1% accuracy in β (ε
(εβ ≅ 0.01) to lower IMD power by 40 dB). Other distortions must
maintain the same limits of accuracy: linear ripple, auxiliary amplifier nonlinearities,
nonlinearities, etc.
| εα | ≅ √ (IMD
(IMDoutput • IMDamplifier)
(if IMDamplifier were -20 dB and the target value of IMDoutput were -60 dB, then
α would have to be adjusted to an accuracy of 0.0001). The same would be required for all
components in the lower branch.
The signal cancellation loop relies on subtraction of nearly equal quantities and is
therefore sensitive to any coefficient misadjustment. The error cancellation
circuit’s adaptation coefficient β depends on the desired reduction of
intermodulation power, rather than the target for absolute intermodulation levels.
The accuracy of the adaptation coefficients also applies to any inadvertent linear
filtering in either branch of the error cancellation circuit. Ripple over the band of
interest must fall within the same limits of accuracy as for β. Similarly, any
nonlinear effects in the auxiliary amplifier or the complex gain adjusters must be
held to the same levels.
The convergence of α and β are coupled, hence, we can express the required
accuracy of α in terms of the observed power amplifier intermodulation and the
desired intermodulation at the output of the feedforward linearizer.
Assuming that the coefficients are perfectly optimized and no inadvertent linear
distortion exists from the passive components. A delay difference between the
upper and lower branches of a cancellation circuit will reduce the amount of
intermodulation suppression at frequencies near the band edges. The result is a
feedforward linearizer with a reduced effective bandwidth.
Simulation Parameters:
FeedForward
FeedForward
Two Linearizer
LinearizerOutput
TwoTone
ToneInput
Input Output
Power
PowerAmplifier
Amplifier
Complex
ComplexCorrelator
Correlator
Complex
ComplexGain
GainAdjuster
Adjuster
The ADS circuit schematic for a double loop feedforward linearizer. The adaptation
technique is based on the gradient method. The rectangular implementation is used
for the complex gain adjuster. The input consists of a two tone modulation.
Agilent Ptolemy simulation controller and the variable equation block for defining the RF
Predistorter parameters.
Average is the dwell time in microseconds.
Freq_Center is the center frequency .
Delta is one half the frequency separation between tones.
DroopRate is the decay time for the peak detector in Volts/second.
•Freq
•Freqof
ofTones
Tones
α
•αα adaptationrate
•αadaptation rate
β
•ββadaptation
•β adaptationrate
rate
Care must be taken in the choice of adaptation parameters. The best approach is to
insure that the signal cancellation loop (α adaptation coefficient) has converged to
within a small variance before the error cancellation loop (β adaptation coefficient)
begins its convergence.
Complex
ComplexGain
GainAdjuster
Adjuster
Lower
LowerBranch
Branch
Complex
ComplexCorrelator
Correlator
The power amplifier has been set with a gain of 10.0+j5.0 and a 1dB compression
point of 28 dBm. Care must be taken to insure that the time delay is matched
between the upper and lower branches. Typically, an attenuator is inserted between
the upper branch and lower branch so that the complex gain adjuster is operating at
its optimum point.
Upper
UpperBranch
Branch
Complex
ComplexGain
GainAdjuster
Adjuster
Lower
LowerBranch
Branch
Complex
ComplexCorrelator
Correlator
In the error cancellation loop, a delay must be inserted in the upper branch to insure
proper cancellation when the gradient based adaptation method is used. IF possible
a bandstop filter could be incorporated after the output coupler to reduce the linear
portion of the output signal. This will effectively speed up the adaptation process. If
the power minimization method is used then a bandpass filter will be used to sample
the output intermodulation distortion and adapt so as to minimize this quantity.
Re{αα}}
Re{α
Re{α
Re{ββ}}
Re{β
Re{β
Im{
Im {ββ}}
Im{β
Im{
Im {αα}}
Im{α
Notice that in this adaptation procedure the signal cancellation loop has been
allowed to converge before the error cancellation loop is turned on. Instability
can occur if proper attention is not paid to the adaptation procedure. The error
cancellation loop takes longer to optimize because of the order of magnitude
difference between the two adaptation rates.
40
40dBc
dBcImprovement
Improvement(3rd)
(3rd)
65
65dBc
dBcImprovement
Improvement(5th)
(5th)
This curve demonstrates that amount of improvement in both the 3rd order and
5th order intermodulation levels at the output of the feedforward linearizer.
•Before
•BeforeLinearization
Linearization •After
•AfterLinearization
Linearization
•IMD
•IMD+Harmonics
+Harmonics
The first figure shows that driving the power amplifier at 5dB back-off generates
high levels of intermodulation power as well as high levels of harmonics. The
second figure shows the resultant output from the feedforward linearizer once the
coefficients have adapted.
FeedForward Linearization
● Adaptive Feedforward linearizers are moving from the
Research to Development phase.
Design Solutions
● The Linearization Design example demonstrates the
performance achievable with feedforward linearization.
● System level simulation provides a solid starting point for
building an implementation quickly.
● Designed components can be integrated into a system to
witness impact on overall performance.
[1] H.S. Black, “Inventing the negative feedback amplifier”, IEEE Spectrum, pp.
55-60, December 1977.
[2] H. Seidel, “A microwave feed-forward experiment”, Bell Systems Technical
Journal”, vol. 50, no.9, pp. 2879-2918, Nov. 1971.
[3] P.B. Kenington and D.W. Bennett, “Linear distortion correction using a
feedforward system”, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 45, no.1,
pp.74-81, February 1996.
[4] J.K. Cavers, “Adaptation behavior of a feedforward amplifier linearizer”, IEEE
Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 44, no.1, pp.31-40, February 1995.
[5] M.G. Oberman and J.F. Long, “Feedforward distortion minimization circuit”,
U.S. Patent 5,077,532, December 31,1991.
[6] R.H. Chapman and W.J. Turney, “Feedforward distortion cancellation circuit”,
U.S. Patent 5,051,704, September 24,1991.
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